CHEMISTRTY PRACTICAL GUIDE-

2019
OBJECTIVES OF PRACTICAL;
i. To test if the student is able to select & handle
apparatus

ii. To test if the student is able to make accurate

measurements
iii.
iv. To test if the student is able to use theoretical
understanding to make observations and
draw conclusions

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 COMMONLY TESTED AREAS IN
PRACTICAL;

1. Qualitative analysis (organic & inorganic);

Determining what could be inside a substance

2. Quantitative analysis; Determining how much

is in the substance

3. Graph work

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 TO BE ABLE TO GET GOOD RESULTS;

1. Accurately identify the reagents

2. Identify what these reagents are meant for

3. Predict the expected observations

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 (A). ANALYSIS OF INORGANIC
SUBSTANCES

 Cations commonly tested;

Na+, K+, NH4+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Mg2+, Al3+, Zn2+, Pb2+,
Cu2+, Fe2+ & Fe3+

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1. Addition of NaOH drop wise until in
excess

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2. Addition of aq. ammonia drop wise,
until in excess

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3. Flame test for cations;
Dip a glass rod or a nichrome wire into the
solution and burn it in a non luminous
flame

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4. Addition of drops of H2SO4/Na2SO4/K2SO4
NB; H+, Na+ and K+ are spectator ions, the sulphate
part is doing the test i.e we are looking for insoluble
sulphates

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5. Addition of drops of HCl/NaCl/KCl
NB; H+, Na+ and K+ are spectator ions, the chloride part is doing the test i.e
we are looking for insoluble chlorides

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6. Addition of drops of potassium iodide
NB; K+ is a spectator ion, the iodide part is doing the
test. KI is normally used for testing for Pb2+ ions

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7). Test for NH+4
Put a small portion of the solid into a test tube,
heat strongly and test the gas produced using
HCl acid on a glass rod.

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8. Addition of drops of a dilute acid e.g. HCl to a solution in a test tube

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COMMONLY TESTED ANIONS;
SO42-, SO32-, CO32-, Cl-, NO3- & HCO3-

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2. Addition of drops of barium nitrate/barium
chloride followed by drops of nitric (V) acid

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3. Addition of drops of acidified barium
nitrate/barium chloride

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4. Addition of drops of lead (II) nitrate

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5. Addition of drops of lead (II) nitrate followed by addition of nitric (V)
acid

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6. Addition of drops of lead (II) nitrate, followed by worming

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7. Addition of drops of acidified lead (II) nitrate

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8. Addition of drops of acidified potassium dichromate (VI)

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9. Take about half of the solid into a dry test tube and heat it
gently then strongly

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10. Transfer the solid residue from a filter
paper into a boiling tube, add 10 ml of
nitric (V) acid and test the gas produced
with a burning splint

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11. Put about half of the solid into a boiling tube, add
about 10 ml of distilled water and shake, divide solution
formed into portions

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12. (a) Describe the appearance of solid
provided; e.g colourless crystal, white
powder, green crystal etc
(b) Put about half of the solid into a
boiling tube, add 10 ml of distilled water,
shake then filter

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 ELIMINTION SKILLS
Analysis of Q [Containing Al2(SO4)3]
Dissolve Q in 10 ml of distilled water and divide the
solution into 5 portions.
a. To the 1st portion, add NaOH drop wise until in
excess
b. To the 2nd portion, add aq. ammonia drop wise
until in excess
c. To the 3rd portion, add 2 drops of KI
d. To the 4th portion, add 3 drops of acidified lead
(II) nitrate
e. To the 5th portion, add 3 drops of barium nitrate

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(B). ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES
1. Put about half of the solid in a metallic spatula and burn
it in a non luminous flame

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2. Put THREE drops of the liquid on a
watch glass and burn (ignite) it

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3. Put the liquid in a boiling tube, add water then shake

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4. Put the solid into a boiling tube, add
about 10 ml of distilled water and shake

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5. Put the solid into a boiling tube, add ethanol & shake

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6. Addition of drops of universal indicator into a portion of the
solution and determining its pH using pH chart

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7. Addition of drops of bromine water

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8. Addition of drops acidified potassium dichromate (VI)

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9. Addition of acidified potassium
manganate (VII)

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10. Addition of solid Na2CO3/NaHCO3 into the solution

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SOLUBILITY & SOLUBILITY CURVES
Definition; Solubility is the max. mass of solute
that can saturate 100 g of solvent at a given
temp

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SOLUBILITY CURVES CON’T

NOTE;
1. Do a curve of best fit, do free hand & don’t
look for points
2. No extrapolation of a curve (don’t extend a
curve)
3. Temperature values in the table of whole
numbers are safer than 1d.p or 2 d.p

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 ENERGY CHANGES (THERMOCHEMISTRY)

ENTHALPY OF SOLUTION
Definition; the enthalpy change that occurs
when a substance completely dissolves in
water
NB;
i. Temperature readings of whole numbers
are safer than 1 or 2 d.p
ii. Energy changes graphs have two
extrapolated lines of best fit

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 Table with a cross (X)

Possible trends in the table; or o

 Shape of graph; Two straight lines, 1st line to
capture 1st trend in the table and 2nd line to
capture normalizing trend and the 2 lines must
be extrapolated
Reading ∆T; reading taken at the time of
cross (X)

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Expected shapes

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 Table without a cross (X)

Possible trends in the table or

 Shape of graph; Two straight lines, 1st line to
capture 1st trend in the table and 2nd line to
capture normalizing trend and the 2 lines must
be extrapolated above or below all plots
Reading ∆T;
∆H = mc∆T;

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Expected shapes

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 RATE OF REACTION;

Definition; Change in concentration of

reactants/products per unit time
RATES TABLE
 Time readings of whole numbers are safer
than 1 or 2 d.p readings
 1/t values should be to 3 d.p & consistent
unless for cases where values work out to less
than 3 d.p
 Temperature or time readings in the table
must either increase or decrease continuously

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Expected shapes
The shape can either be a straight line or a smooth
curve depending on the quantities being plotted

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1. CURRENT TRENDS IN SETTING (KCSE 2017 STYLE)

You are provided with;

 Solid Q suspected to be Zinc Sulphate
 2.0 M Sodium hydroxide solution
 2.0 M Aqueous ammonia
 2.0 M Nitric (V) acid
 0.5 M Barium Chloride solution
 Distilled water
a) Using the provided chemicals, write down
three tests and expected observations to
completely confirm the identity of solid Q
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 2. CURRENT TRENDS IN SETTING
(KCSE 2017 STYLE)
You are provided with;
 Solid W
 Metallic spatula
 Distilled water
 Solid sodium carbonate
(a) Solid W is suspected to be a polar
unsaturated alkanoic acid, describe three
consecutive tests you would carry out to
confirm the identity of solid W.

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 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
CONDITIONS FOR CALCULATIONS;
Students MUST transfer the values intact, that
is, if the answer above is to 4 d.p. and should be
used in the subsequent working, therefore the
student cannot round it off in the air and use it
when it is now 3 d.p
Answers to at least 4 decimal places is OK either
rounded off or truncated (chopped off)
Presenting two different workings attracts full
penalty on that particular question
RAM & RFM should not have units on the
answer

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 GRAPH WORK

CONDITIONS;
 The scale chosen should be able to
accommodate all the points in the table and it
should have consistent scale intervals
 Label, units are not necessary as units can
attract penalties e.g., just stating Time is
enough, not a must to state Time (seconds)
 Scale should be big enough to cover at least ½
of the grid provided, that is, the student should
ensure that he/she uses at least ½ of the big
boxes on the vertical & on the horizontal axes

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 GRAPH WORK CON’T
 Students should avoid committing zero at the
origin; it is safer that way
 Total coincidence of ruler with grid lines
when doing y- and x-axes lines, extra
keenness
 Points should be plotted intact i.e, as they
appear in the table
 The curve/line should pass through the initial
plot, as this was the first experiment done
under a lot of purity

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 BACK TITRATION
You are provided with;
 Solution A, 2.0 M HCl
 Solution B, 0.1 M NaOH
 Solid C, 4.0 g of metal carbonate, X2CO3

Procedure 1;
Solid C is added into 50 ml of HCl. Remaining
acid after reacting with the solid is diluted in
a 250 ml volumetric flask up to the mark and
given a new name e.g solution D

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 BACK TITRATION CON’T

Procedure 2;
Fill the burette with solution D and pipette
solution B (NaOH). Then titrate the two
(a) How to fill titration table; (Av = 22.1)

Calculations;
(b) Average volume

(c) Moles of solution B used

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 BACK TITRATION CON’T

(d) Moles of solution D used

NB; Mole ratio

(e) Moles of D in 250 ml

(f) Moles of A in 50 ml of original solution A

(g) Moles of acid that reacted with the

carbonate

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 BACK TITRATION CON’T

(h) Moles of the carbonate that reacted with the

acid
NB; mole ratio

(i) The RFM of the carbonate, X2CO3

NB; RFM = mass/moles

(j) The RAM of X in the carbonate X2CO3

(Final answer here is x = 25.77)

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 REDOX TITRATION
You are provided with;
 Solution A, H+/KMnO4
 Solution B, containing 23.5 g of ammonium
iron (II) sulphate, (NH4)2Fe(SO4)26H2O per
liter
 Solution C, containing 5.0 g of a dibasic acid,
H2X.2H2O per liter
Procedure 1;
Fill the burette with solution A and pipette
solution B. Then titrate the two.
(a) How to fill titration table;
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 REDOX TITRATION CON’T

Calculations;
(b) Average volume of solution A
(Av = 23.0)

(c) Calculate the concentration of ammonium

iron (II) sulphate, solution B in moles per
liter (RFM of (NH4)2Fe(SO4)26H2O = 392)

(d) Calculate the number of moles of iron (II)

ions in the 25 cm3 of solution B
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 REDOX TITRATION CON’T

(e) Use the ionic equation for the reaction given

below to calculate the moles of manganate
(VII) ions, solution B used in the titration;
MnO4-(aq) + 5Fe2+(aq) + 8H+(aq) → Mn2+(aq)+ 5Fe2+(aq) + 4H2O(l)

(f) Calculate the concentration of manganate

(VII), solution B in moles per liter

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 REDOX TITRATION CON’T
Procedure 1I;
Pipette solution C into a conical flask. Heat the
solution to about 70 ⁰C and titrate the hot
solution C with solution A
(g) How to fill titration table;

(h) Average volume of solution A

(Av = 20.0)

(i) Calculate the number of moles of manganate

(VII) ions used in the titration
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 REDOX TITRATION CON’T

(j) Given that 2 moles of manganate (VII) ions

react with 5 moles of dibasic acid,
H2X.2H2O, calculate the number of moles of
the dibasic acid, in the 25 Cm3 of solution C

(k) Calculate the concentration of the dibasic

acid, H2X.2H2O in moles per liter

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 REDOX TITRATION CON’T

(l) Calculate the RFM of the dibasic acid,

H2X.2H2O

(m) Calculate the formula mass of X in the

dibasic acid, H2X.2H2O (O=16, H=1)
(Final answer here is x = 154.3 g)

COMPILED BY; ABUNA O. D

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